I wanted to think for myself. I wanted to become somebody.
One of the best documentary films that I saw last year was SONS OF PERDITION, a truly thoughtful and provocative film directed by Tyler Measom and Jenny Merten that followed the lives of three boys who were outcast from The Crick, Warren Jeff's FLDS polygamist community that is found in Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah.
It is no secret that boys are a threat in polygamist communities, especially teenage boys, and these boys are systematically exiled from the only homes and community they have known their whole lives to a world that they are ill-equipped to live in. Known locally as the Lost Boys, there are limited resources available for them and many turn to drugs and alcohol to cope with the separation from their families and often find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
This is a very real problem, a human problem, and this film follows the journey of three Lost Boys for four years as they navigate life outside their community attempting to sort out the scars of their former life, their individual heartbreak and losses, their struggles with post-traumatic religious stress disorders and their true discovery of real independence.
SONS OF PERDITION is a film I believe that absolutely everyone should see because the more we understand, the more we all know, the more compassion we all share for one another.
Lucky for those of us living in Utah and Arizona, SONS OF PERDITION is now screening locally. I want everyone to go see this film and the first five (5) of you who leave me a comment saying you can join me will get to go for FREE this FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2011, at the TOWER THEATRE in Salt Lake City, Utah. You'll be my special guests and I'll do my very best to make certain you get a chance to meet Tyler Measom and the special guests in attendance.
* Remember that the first five commenters will get to be MY GUEST for the Friday the 18th 7:00 p.m. screening ~ this is my gift to you!
It took lots of guts from lots of beautiful people to share this story. I hope you'll share it with everyone you know.
ADDENDUM: I want to personally thank all of you who joined me at the Tower Theatre in Salt Lake City to see this film. We had a huge turn out and there were lots of thoughtful questions asked to both the director and to the boys who were there for the screening. My sister, NeverNakedBeth attended and her one criticism of the film that I hadn't even thought about was that it did not do quite enough to establish that the FLDS church and tenets are truly separate from those of the LDS church. She is concerned, as a practicing and faithful Mormon, that this film will confuse those beyond Utah about the Mormon Church. I believe, honestly, that any film or media that encourages us to examine and question our own beliefs and what we think we know is always a welcome addition to the dialogue. My hope is that those who see this film would not just assume this film holds the gospel truth. Each of us, actually, holds our own truth, as I believe all of you know. The common ground is where we all meet to share our truths and love one another through our differences.
There's been quite a bit of traffic here looking for specific information about the FLDS, Warren Jeffs and polygamy. Today there was an article published on SALON that further illuminates the troubles in the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saint church. I'm linking to it as a courtesy.







